Tao of Sports Podcast

Greg Shea has a duality within his position, not only is he in charge of attracting patrons to the Tri-City Storm hockey club, but also to the Viaero Events Center, located in Kearney, Nebraska. Shea talks about some of the issues with building price points, attracting both concert-goers and Storm games. The Viaero Events Center is west of the major city of Grand Island in the state of Nebraska, b...

A lot of sports analytics interest has been devoted to the team functionary of improving scouting, but that’s not where Steve Fall’s Sports Resource lies. Fall has been helping agents increase the value of their clients when faced with contract negotiations and arbitration hearings. Fall walks us through the process of showing what statistics matter, where the field is headed and how newer profess...

  Blue turf, a nationally-ranked college football team, a rising NCAA Tournament basketball team, and a flood of attendance doesn’t make Matt Beckman’s job any easier. Beckman has to work with the notion of getting fans to return again in case the team starts to lose, and talks about some of the issues surrounding the rising crest of NCAA sports in Boise. Beckman also discusses select-a-seat night...

  This is a great episode for those who want to work in sports to listen to because its about wanting it more than the other person. Justin Kesterson has worked in various levels of college and high school athletics, including a Division I, two Division IIs, and now at the high school level, performing every type of duty including: broadcast, sports information, promotion, events management, marke...

  In the nation’s smallest state, Assistant A.D. of Marketing Adam Schemm consistently goes after the largest possible audience for the University of Rhode Island. Schemm talks about the branding challenges that he faced when arriving at Rhode Island, implementing both a new out-bound sales strategy in-house, as well as building a key fan development unit to retain fans once they’re in the buildin...

  The idea of constant content is one of the hallmarks of the NFL Baltimore Raven’s Digital Media division, led by VP Michelle Andres. While this is not common among NFL teams to have so much content going out, Andres talks about the massive benefits of interaction with fans as well as interest growth. Andres discusses the various planning stages of implementing a full week’s worth of content (vid...

  Starting a new baseball league is never easy, but Executive Director Chris Petersen believes he’s found the right mix in the Interstate Baseball League. After a couple of false starts, the league may be starting for an abbreviated inaugural season in August 2013. Petersen talks about the issues dealing with ownership, facility rental, revenue streams such as tickets, corporate sales, and concess...

  Analytics is the name of the game, and Winthrop Intelligence (WIN AD) is starting to change that game, especially when it comes to athletic department hiring for coaches and top administrators. WIN AD Director of Sales Kevin Barefoot talks about the concerns of hiring administrators, working through the data streams of contractual obligations in terms of scheduling and large guarantee games, and...

  JMI Sports, Inc. may have bridged the gap between professional and college sports revenue streams. Managing Director Mark Tilson talks about the changing landscape of the industry, how every component of revenue can be recalibrated and enhanced. Tilson talks about several issues facing the sports industry, including the blending of the secondary and primary markets, as well as ticket devaluation...

  The dynamics of sports marketing and franchise revival are the topics of the day with Trenton Titans co-owner Rich Lisk. Operator of Small Change Marketing as well, Lisk talks about the fan development relationship building that the Trenton Titans had to engage after re-emerging from the ashes of a failed New Jersey Devil’s affiliate experiment. Lisk discusses how ticket sales, rebuilding custom...

  If you’ve logged onto a team website, tried to buy tickets and witnessed as beautifully rendered map of the arena, chances are, you’ve used Mike McAdam’s work. Head of Business Development at IOMEDIA, McAdams talks about some of the new ways that patrons are interacting with the team, and how having new online features can result in large revenue streams emerging overnight. McAdams talks about h...

  One of the infamous “lost episodes” of the podcast has been discovered. Recorded in late November 2012 in Palo Alto right after Stanford defeated Seattle University in men’s basketball, Troy’s former boss, Jason Behenna, talks to him about media relations. Behenna goes over some of the new media duties that he has during the game, as well as what it takes to do a sports information job correctly...

  Some of the most dynamic ways to draw an audience come out of the Professional Bull Riders, Inc. Barry McMullin talks some of the ways in which the PBR stays relevant in a fractured traditional media landscape, drawing fans to arenas with a   solid price point strategy. McMullin discusses the difference between PBR fans and others, especially on corporate sponsorship activation. McMullin highlig...

  The WiFi landscape of stadium technology is so confusing that most people, including Troy, don’t really have a good grasp of it. That’s why InSource’s David Black agreed to be a guest in order to help explain it in laymen’s terms. InSource has been responsible for several major WiFi projects, including the 5,000-seat Lakewood Church and the 40,000-seat, $105 million University of Houston Footbal...

  One of the NBADL’s premiere franchises sits in Frisco, Texas and is helmed by Bill Boyce. This is his first venture into sports operations, after serving as an attorney for several years running his own practice for thirteen years. Boyce discusses the NBADL’s emergence in minor league sports and some of the ways in which the Texas Legends have gotten noticed, including utilizing corporate imagin...

  In the 100th episode of the podcast, Troy sits down with social media guru Vykky Hawkins to talk about social platforms and where the entire scope of digital media is headed. Hawkins talks about what are the best, worst things to tweet, how to ensure quality controls even on breaking news that she may know about two days earlier such as a coaching hire, the UA Grumpy Cat Campaign, Trolls, Catfis...

With Sentinel Sports, Jonathan Watson is in the relationship business. He discusses the current landscape of client representation, as well as how teams vet athletes in a changing world of media. According to Watson, the information game is everything. Watson also talks about his time entertaining U.S. Military Troops aboard in Iraq, Afghanistan and Germany as a C1 Director of Morale, Welfare and...

  Mark Smith sees more digital video in a year than some folks witness in a lifetime. Serving as minor league video coordinator for the Oakland Athletics, Smith uses various technologies to isolate every pitch and swing, helping provide coaches and players with a clearer understanding of the game. Smith talks about entering into sports after military service, working on a personal budget in order...

  Ontario Reign Team President Justin Kemp oversees one of the newer ECHL franchises in one of the newest arenas in the country. Situated in Ontario, California on land that used to be a racetrack, the entire footprint has been developed into a dynamic revenue stream, including a mall, car dealerships and arena. Kemp talks about the ability to draw out fans in the local area, some of the sports ma...

  Having the No. 1 selection in the WNBA Draft is never easy, especially when there are three potential game-changers in women’s basketball in that draft class. Phoenix Mercury President/COO Amber Cox talks about the franchise’s top pick as well going after new fans in a constantly changing marketplace. Cox talks about the importance of women’s basketball, how the Mercury’s 2004 No. 1 overall pick...

  Compliance is the name of the game for Division-I schools, and that’s where Theresa Laurente has lent her expertise over the past decade both as a student assistant and compliance officer at four different Division-I institutions. Laurente discusses the NCAA rules violation process with Eastern Washington University, including that school’s revival after overturning a 2009 FCS Playoff ban, as we...

Scott Worden has been on both sides of the vendor-client side of sports ticket sales. Now at the helm of GetTix. Net's sales division, Worden is responsible for ensuring that everything a sports sales department needs is implemented in the GetTix framework. Worden talks about some of the challenges of dynamic pricing, CRMs and ticket sales in general. Worden discusses his career, selling for the A...

  Mike Savit has operated several minor league baseball franchises across the country, including the Michigan Battle Cats, Mobile Bay Bears, Modesto Nuts and Augusta Green Jackets, along a team in the Coastal Plain League of the Carolinas. But his heart remains with the NBADL’s Springfield Armor which he founded in New England in 2009. Savit talks about the league’s prospering future, marketing &...

  Australians have a long love affair with the sport of baseball according to Ben Foster. General Manager of the three-year-old Australia Baseball League Down Under, Foster talks about the highs and lows of a sports just feeling its way into economic stability amid various other popular sports vying for Aussie’s attention.   Foster talks about where the ABL has gone, what the future looks like, an...

The Central Hockey League has provided the Midwest with entertainment on the ice since 1992. Helmed by Commissioner Duane Lewis, the league has a strategy of providing fun, exciting games which end in shoot-outs if the games are tied at the end of regulation. Lewis talks about "sticking to their guns" when discussing the shootout policy of settling overtimes, how some markets have been hurt by pap...